6 posts tagged “series books”
I've read so many series books I think I have half of the formula.
The story takes place in a pastoral and picturesque small town along a large body of water, near the mountains, or along a railway line, or all three... usually along the rural Eastern Seaboard. OR The story takes place at a boarding school.
There is a group of very nice girls. There is another group of girls, who aren't very nice at all. These two groups are always at odds with each other, and there is always one especially difficult girl but the nice girls always win out and usually manage to convert one or more of the mean girls to the "better way" in the process. If the story takes place at boarding school, there is always one old bitter hag of a teacher that will play prominently in the story.
There is a group of boys, made up of the brothers of the nice girls and some of the other nice boys from town. There is always one joke of a boy that no one likes but is always included in the activities to serve as comic relief and the boys are always playing tricks on him or teasing him mercilessly. The dolt always redeems himself to the group in some way by showing he's a pretty good guy when he's not being such a lame duck.
These girls and boys are always very civic minded and usually stage some kind of charity event that is threatened in some way, but always comes off well and produces whatever end was desired.
The parents are always minor characters, but 9 times out 10 they appear as kind, loving, patient and understanding friends and confidants.
There is always one adult that the kids love and admire and is their trusty "Go To Guy (Girl)". This person usually acts as chaperone for the group on their outings, although they are so pure of heart they never need one, but something always happens and the chaperone saves the day by imparting their wisdom of experience to the group.
The group always goes on an exciting trip or has a local adventure where either something mysterious needs to be solved or a conflict that needs to be resolved, or while on the adventure they meet up with either a young waif or an older person who needs to be taken under the collective wing of the group and offered some kind of help or rescuing.
How'd I do, did I get it pretty close?
Billy Whiskers - Frances Trego: A story of a goat's adventures.
Little Black Mingo - Helen Bannerman: A companion book to Little Black Sambo.
Maida's Little Shop - Inez Haynes Gillmore: A once lame girl now needs to do something with herself, so she opens a little shop and has nice times with her neighbors. Very adorable.
Railway Children - Edith Nesbit: A family torn apart, a move to the country, secrets and activities at the Railway Station. A very engaging read.
How Ethel Hollister became a CampFire Girl - Irene Benson: Ethel's uptight gold-digger mother wants Ethel to have nothing to do with the CFG, but Ethel manages to get involved anyway and has the best experiences.
Marjorie Dean, HS Freshman - Pauline Lester: Marjorie has to move schools. Many trials and tribulations are rewarded with life-long friends.
Jack of both Sides - Florence Coombe: A Boy's school story. One boy, Jack, shows both sides of the school they can get along.
The Motor Maids at Sunrise Camp - Katherine Stokes: This was a GREAT read. A group of girls motors out to the mountains for a holiday and meet all kinds of characters and have exciting, and mildly unnerving happenings happen around them.
The Motor Maids' School Days: Katherine Stokes: Not as good as Sunrise Camp, but enjoyable just the same. A typical school story.
The Outdoor Chums, The First Tour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club - Quincy Allen: I was so certain I'd read this, but upon going back to it and reading the first bit, I don't recall this story at all.
The Red Cross Girls with the Russian Army - Margaret Vandercook: A group of young women become Red Cross Nurses in WWI and end up in war ravaged Russia. A predictable, but yet engrossing read.
And how can I not list favorites that I read more than a month ago?
The Bobbsey Twins - Laura Lee Hope: A group of 2 sets of twins, brothers and sisters all, have mysterious adventures and exciting vacations.
The Scotch Twins - Lucy Fitch Perkins: One of a series of TWINS books set in different geographical regions. This one, of course, was Scotland. I ADORED this book. LOVED IT!
Grace Harlowe - Jessie Graham Flower: A school story of Grace and her chums. (I've read the whole HS and college series, but not the Overland Riders theme)
The Outdoor Girls - Laura Lee Hope: A group of young women form a camping, and tramping club and go neat places and solve mysteries and have assorted adventures. The Outdoor Girls is MY FAVORITE SERIES so far...
Ruth Fielding - Alice B. Emerson: Orphan Ruth goes to live with her Uncle and goes off to school and other places. My second favorite series... so far...
Other books I've read in the past 6 months:
A Little Miss Nobody; or, With the Girls of Pinewood School - Amy Bell Marlowe: Loved it!
Boxcar Children - Gertrude Chandler Warner:
Trixie Belden - Julie Campbell:
Adventure at Brackendale - Linda Peters:
Strawberry Girl - : I found some of her other Regional stories in the library (I was amazed to find them!) but they were awful. Not nearly any of them as great as Strawberry Girl. Disappointed.
I know I've missed a few books that I can't place now, but at least I have this mostly complete list and it seems every time I go back to the Series Bookshelf at Gutenberg there are several new serieses (is that right, serieses?) listed, I'll be happily reading till I'm wearing Coke-Bottle lenses.
Do you like stories about twins? About Scotland? Then you might like THE SCOTCH TWINS (1919) by Lucy Fitch Perkins. It made me clap my hands with excited anticipation many times. I can't explain why very well... I knew what twists were coming but it was told so well I felt like I was a fly on the wall the whole time. You know what's coming, but you aren't quite sure that's exactly what IS going to happen....
There are other books in the TWINS series, but this great little easy read was an immense delight.
Here's a sample from the Gutenberg E-text:
"At the very moment when Jock and Tam came flying over the fence and down the hill like a cyclone after the rabbit, Angus was kneeling beside the brook to get a drink. His lips were pursed up and he was bending over almost to the surface of the water, when something dashed past him, and an instant later something else struck him like a thunderbolt from behind, and drove him headforemost into the brook! It wasn't Tam that did it. It was Jock! Of course, it was an accident, but Angus thought he had done it on purpose, and he was probably the most surprised as well as the angriest man in Scotland at that moment. He lifted his head out of the brook and glared at Jock as fiercely as he could with little rills of water pouring from his hair and nose, and trickling in streams down his neck.
"I'll make you smart for this, you young blatherskite," he roared at Jock, who stood before him frozen with horror. "I'll teach you where you belong! You were running after that rabbit, and your dog is yelping down a hole after her this minute!" He was such a funny sight as he knelt there, dripping and scolding, that, scared as he was, Jock could not help laughing. More than ever enraged, Angus made a sudden lunge forward and seized Jock by the ear."
Nothing may ever beat that time I got the $160 book
Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski.
Adventure at Brackendale by Linda Peters. A British girls series book from 1971 (I haven't read it yet, perhaps it's like Nancy Drew?). Hardcover worth $10.
And Finn Family Moomintroll. I'm not even going to try to describe this third story in a series of British children's books (1966). Paperback worth $10.
From the site: ["This
edition was published with several small cover variations - the bar at
the bottom of the page was printed in three different colours."] - Mine has a GREEN STRIPE.
The Bobbsey Twins by Laura Lee Hope: Four brothers and sisters made up of two sets of fraternal twins have fun adventures and always find a way to explain mysterious happenings.
The Outdoor Girls/Laura Lee Hope: A group of young women who are best of friends start a tramping (hiking) club and travel over the countryside having exciting adventures and meeting interesting characters who always need their help, which they more than provide.
Ruth Fielding of Red Mill/Alice B. Emerson: An orphan goes to live with her crotchety old Uncle at the Red Mill, makes friends with a brother and sister from town and the three of them travel together, go to school together, do everything together, including solving mysterious goings on.
The Boxcar Children/Gertrude Chandler Warner: Four orphaned brothers and sisters start out living in an abandoned box car but eventually get found by their Grandfather and then have one mysterious adventure after the other.
A Little Miss Nobody or With the Girls of Pinewood Hall (*Books for Girls Series)/Amy Bell Marlowe: Nancy is an orphan with a mysterious benefactor. She makes friends, finds she does belong and solves her own mystery! (*Each story features a different heroine)
Trixie Belden/Julie Campbell: Trixie makes friends with the new neighbor girl and they make friends with another neighbor's nephew and with Trixie's brothers have mysterious adventures.
Anne of Avonlea/Lucy Maude Montgomery: Another orphan tale.... Anne goes to PEI and makes friends and family, but no mysterious adventures in this series.
Mary Poppins/P.L. Travers: You all know Mary Popppins, but have you only ever seen the Disney film, or have you actually read the series of books? Totally different!
I still haven't read that Jenny's Cat Club book by Esther Averill yet....
That's all I can think of for now. The commute to work beckons me.....
Since my childhood, I have always loved series books, like the Bobbsey Twins books by "Laura Lee Hope". I found them again online a few years ago and have since devoured all I could find and read. I then read "her" Outdoor Girl series, which was a love like no other. However, I just couldn't get into the Moving Picture Girls, or the 6 Little Bunkers serieses (is that right, serieses?).
I found another series called Ruth Fielding of Red Mill by "Alice B. Emerson". A total joy, but I read all of the online books available already.
I read one of "Amy Bell Marlowe"'s Books for Girls series called A Little Miss Nobody; or, With the Girls of Pinewood School. It was a good long story I didn't want to end.
I read some of Lucy Maude Montgomery's Anne of Avonlea series years and years ago, and I never got into Nancy Drew or the Hardy boys.
I enjoy these old tales so much because of their positive moral undertones, and they make me get the dictionary out every once in a while. I wish I could tell you some of the funny antiquated terms I had to look up but it's 6 am and I just can't. But one thing really gets me and gives me a papercut is an inconsistency &/or poor editing. I know they didn't know 100 years ago I'd consider these books classics, so I forgive them, but damn it - I want to know what happened with Amy Gregg and her Father in one of the Ruth fielding episodes and "she" forgot to tell us!
Are you wondering why I keep "italicizing" words like her and she? Well, because the hers and shes in question aren't actual "people" (you know what I mean...), they are wonderful nom de plumes from the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Anyway, I found a site of invaluable use - series books for girls - if you like these kind of books too...
I was a VORACIOUS reader as a child. VORACIOUS, I can still devour almost any book in one sitting. Reading online is ok, but I miss the tactile experience of turning a page. So yesterday I went to the library and marched right into the children's section and took out some junior fiction and recaptured a piece of my youth for the weekend. They didn't have any turn of the century stories around save for the Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner which is pushing it at 1942 but of which I checked out two volumes, one volume of "recent" (heh.) at 1948 - Trixie Belden by Julie Campbell, and A Jenny's Cat Club Book, Captain's of the City Streets by Esther Averill (1972) - and how can you not love a book about cats?
